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Obama calls Jimmy Kimmel suspension "government coercion" Former President Obama condemned ABC for pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves following comments from a Trump administration official on Thursday, calling it "government coercion." Why it matters: Obama, who infrequently weighs in on controversial political conversations, joined several other high-profile personalities in pointing out perceived hypocrisy in suspending Kimmel's show for comments related to Charlie Kirk's death after the MAGA movement has spent years railing against "cancel culture" and "censorship." What they're saying: "After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn't like," Obama said in a post on X. "This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it," he added in an additional post. Driving the news: Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr warned in a Wednesday interview that his agency could pull or revoke broadcasting licenses for airing "garbage" content, though he didn't specifically connect that content to Kirk's killing . Nexstar, which owns local television stations across the U.S., announced Wednesday it would preempt "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the "foreseeable future" for its ABC affiliates over Kimmel's Kirk comments. Carr praised Nexstar for its actions, and encouraged other broadcasters to "follow Nexstar's lead." ABC pulled Kimmel's show off the air later that day. Context: Kimmel condemned political violence the first time he addressed the fatal shooting, but in the show's opening monologue on Monday, he criticized the "MAGA" gang for using Kirk's killing to "score political points." A string of high-profile firings of people who have made comments viewed as "insensitive" towards Charlie Kirk's death have also supercharged accusations of free speech censorship. Zoom in: Other comedians, such as Wanda Sykes and Marc Maron, also condemned the FCC's influence on ABC, and warned of growing government censorship. "This is the United States Government silencing voices that they disagree with. FCC chair Carr put this out. … Look, if they can come for Kimmel, they can come for anybody," Maron said in an Instagram video Thursday morning. Go deeper: Thousands flagged online for cheering Charlie Kirk's death https://www.axios.com/2025/09/18/obama-jimmy-kimmel-trump-suspension